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I have two servers with GoDaddy both, using simple Control Panel. One is a VPS and one is Dedicated. Let's say the VPS has the IP of 192.0.2.100 and is called example.com and the dedicated has the IP of 192.0.2.222 and has the domain of example.net.

I would like to switch the name servers between the two using simple control panel. GoDaddy couldn't help me much but they said I needed to change the name servers and change something called the "a records". I want the name servers to swap, but the IPs to stay the same. How do I do this?

Also, my email addresses are all on the VPS, and GoDaddy claims that the email will stay intact when I change name servers because they are using a special GoDaddy thing. Is this true? The @example.com part won't change to @example.net if I change the name servers?

Update:
Here is the DNS part for the Dedicated server

Primary Name server ns1.example.net

HOST | TYPE | DATA
@    | A    | 192.0.2.222
@    | NS   | ns1
@    | NS   | ns2
@    | A    | 192.0.2.222
@    | A    | 192.0.2.222
@    | MX   | mail
www  | A    | 192.0.2.222
ftp  | A    | 192.0.2.222
ssh  | A    | 192.0.2.222
mail | A    | 192.0.2.222
Chris S
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mcf2
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  • What? Why are you changing nameservers? While leaving the domains and IPs? – mailq Aug 09 '11 at 19:25
  • I guess I'm wording it wrong? I want my domains swapped... so the domains are linked to the other server, not the initial one. Sorry for the confusion. – mcf2 Aug 09 '11 at 19:33

2 Answers2

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You don't want any name servers to change you just want those host names to point to the opposite server. You've got a whole lot of "extra" terminology in there, and most of it doesn't apply to your situation at all; hence confusing the GoDaddy first line support.

Whoever hosts your DNS, probably GoDaddy, you need to change the A Records for your servers. Each server likely has a Default record (@) or a www record pointed to the relevant IP (these are both records of type "A"). You need to change the IP under each record so it points to the other.

If you can't figure out how to do this; call support again and explain to them using the terminology from the 2nd paragraph of this Answer. They'll understand that.

E-Mail is servers are determined by a record type of "MX", so changing the "A" records will not change the mail server.

Chris S
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  • Wow, thanks so much for the info Chris. I REALLY appreciate your help! If you look at my initial post, i added more details... can you help tell me what I need to change for both servers? – mcf2 Aug 09 '11 at 19:31
  • So you're running the DNS on your server? This is starting to sound very messy. – Chris S Aug 09 '11 at 19:34
  • I suppose I've been using my terminology wrong! I have two servers with their own ips and they each have their own domain names... I simply want to swap those domains to use the others' server. Sorry for the confusion. All I have to do is change the @ A Record IP to the opposing server to do this? – mcf2 Aug 09 '11 at 19:37
  • ... not to mention the multiple A-Records – mailq Aug 09 '11 at 19:37
  • mailq, forgive me. I'm new to changing domains, this is my first time doing so. Do I have to change all of the @ A record IPs? – mcf2 Aug 09 '11 at 19:40
  • If you just want to swap which website is presented by each domain name, then you can just change the IP of the `www` and `@` records. That will have the desired effect. If you wish to change more of which server is resolved by each host name then more changes will be necessary. A server is not defined by the domain it serves, in fact it's possible for one server to serve multiple domains. But such a configuration would likely be too complicated for their Simple Control Panel interface. – Chris S Aug 09 '11 at 19:44
  • Okay, with regards to the former part of your post... if I did that, would that domain swap allow for those domains to work off of the other server? – mcf2 Aug 09 '11 at 19:53
  • I worded that in a confusing manner... let me try again, if I swap the www and @ records, and go to the domain names of each, will the site work off of the new server setup or still pull from the old one? – mcf2 Aug 09 '11 at 19:55
  • btw, the person at godaddy said I need to "add a domain" in order to do this, is that true? – mcf2 Aug 09 '11 at 20:19
  • What you said in the second one should be true unless the web server software is actively checking for particular host names. Easiest to try it once and see if it works in your situation. I can't see where you'd have to add a domain; it's possible they know something about the situation not list here; but I doubt it. – Chris S Aug 09 '11 at 20:44
  • It sounds like they want me to add the domain names, configure them, then remove the old ones. Also, they said I need to change the ssh and ftp records to work with the new server. is that correct? Thanks so much for your help, this is very confusing. – mcf2 Aug 09 '11 at 20:53
  • It's probably a better idea to make records like `srv-vps` and `srv-ded` in both domains, point those to the correct IPs in both. This way you can always connect to the correct servers. Then start messing with the other records. You can connect to any of these services through the IP regardless of what host name you use. If you don't use FTP, you don't need that record (none of the records are technically necessary). DNS is only a system for taking an easy to remember domain name, and pointing it to an IP. You can decide what those point to. Does that help at all? – Chris S Aug 10 '11 at 01:51
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Assuming you want all of the domain records for Server A to now point at Server B and vice versa, I'd do this:

Point @ for example.net to Server A IP.

Point all other DNS records for example.net to @.example.net

Rinse and repeat for Example.com and Server B

If you wish to mess around with it in the future, you should only have to change one record per domain.

BoBo
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  • Okay so all of the records I listed in my above post will need to changeto the opposing server? What about mail? – mcf2 Aug 09 '11 at 21:46
  • "all of the records I listed in my above post will need to changeto the opposing server?" Yes "What about mail?" MX record points to mail, as is mail points to @ Infuture, you should only need to change the @ A record and everything changes, assuming it all remains on one server per domain. – BoBo Aug 11 '11 at 18:22